Activity Introduction
Alien life has been discovered on the planet Rhombulon. You, a brave space biologist (person who studies animals in space), have been sent to capture the first images of these strange creatures, made entirely of regular shapes!
Safety advice: Keep safe with scissors. Ask for help if you need it and never run with scissors in your hand.
Some kids will be able to work on this activity with minimal support.
Ideal for: Lower and Middle Primary Ages 5 – 9
Themes:
- be creative
Time required: 30 minutes (activities should be 15-40 mins depending on age bracket)
Curriculum connections: Mathematics, Visual Arts, Critical and Creative Thinking
This is a great opportunity to test your kid’s sight recognition and understanding of shapes.
Ask questions such as:
- What is this shape?
- How many sides or edges does a (shape) have? Please remember: Circles have one side. A shape can’t have zero sides!
- How many corners does a (shape) have?
- Advanced (Year 3): What is the 3D version of this shape called?
- Advanced: Can you think of any shapes that have (5, 6, 7) sides? Do you know what they are called?
- Advanced: Shapes like squares are called regular shapes. But you can also have an irregular shape, which are shapes that don’t have a common name.
Make sure your child is using their ruler to create straight lines. This will test their fine motor skills and they may become frustrated. Close enough is good enough, so long as they’re trying and not just free-handing the shapes.
Curriculum codes:
- Coloured pencils and pens
- Coloured paper (can be scraps)
- Glue
- Scissors
- Ruler
- White paper
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[email protected] from Cool Australia
[email protected] resources are designed for parents and teachers to use with children in the home environment. They can be used as stand-alone activities or built into existing curriculum-aligned learning programs. Our [email protected] series includes two types of resources. The first are fun and challenging real-world activities for all ages, the second are self-directed lessons for upper primary and secondary students. These lessons support independent learning in remote or school settings.
Cool Australia’s curriculum team continually reviews and refines our resources to be in line with changes to the Australian Curriculum.
